Italian Truffle Cheese Pizza

Hello all! It's been a while since I posted but here it goes! My inspiration for this recipe actually came from a restaurant called 800 Degrees Pizza from when my boyfriend took me to eat there. Funny thing is, we never ordered the truffle cheese pizza; I just saw it on the menu and thought it seemed tasty but was expensive (an extra three bucks for truffle cheese?!). Luckily, this is easy peasy gourmet; you can purchase all these ingredients from Trader Joe's at very reasonable prices. To be honest, I have no idea how it's supposed to taste like. However, my thoughts for this recipe are: Success!!! Often presumptuous of me? Well why don't you try it out and tell me what you think. I'm hoping to get into habit of posting more regularly! Enjoy!

On a side note, I always buy crimini mushrooms over button mushrooms because the overall flavor is better.

Italian Truffle Cheese Pizza
16 ounces of pizza dough, premade
4 ounces crimini mushrooms, sliced
2 ounces Italian truffle cheese, shredded or crumbled (or more depending on how cheesey you like it)
4 cloves garlic, minced
sprigs of fresh oregano
extra virgin olive oil for drizzling

1. Split dough in half and allow to rest for 20 minutes. (Handling instructions may vary depending on the dough you buy or if you choose to make your own pizza dough)
2. Preheat the oven to 450°F.
3. Meanwhile, drizzle some olive oil in a hot pan and saute minced garlic until caramelized, set aside for later use.
4. After the dough is fully rested, stretch the dough out onto a baking sheet until the desired thickness. (I made my pizza super thin so it was a little less than a 11 by 17 inch baking sheet.)
5. Sprinkle the dough evenly with cheese. Add sliced mushrooms and sprinkle with caramelized garlic and fresh oregano leaves. Don't worry if the amount of mushroom seems overwhelming, they do shrink after baking. Lightly drizzle with olive oil.
6. Depending on the thickness of your pizza, bake for 8-10 minutes or until fully cooked. The cheese should be slightly toasted and golden.
7. Serve while it's still hot!

Macaroni Salad with Imitation Crab

Although this post is titled 'Macaroni Salad,' no macaroni were actually used in this recipe. You've just been trolled! In all seriousness though you can pretty much substitute any non-noodley pasta. In this case I opted to use campanelle which are bell shaped pastas; it was nice because the bell kind of served as little cornucopias for the sauce and ingredients. I decided to do this recipe because I've been craving macaroni salad for ages. No not the gooey crud you get in a bucket from the supermarket; I was craving something restaurant quality. More specifically, I was craving the macaroni salad from a little business in the South Bay called Cherrystones. The quality of their food is amazing and one of the most memorable things of course was their macaroni salad. If you're ever in the area, do try the Chilean sea bass; it comes with macaroni salad. (;  Bon Appetit!

Macaroni Salad
1/2 pound pasta
1/2 cup mayonnaise (I went real light on the mayo, just add more if desired)
1 teaspoon rice vinegar
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 stalks of celery, diced in small pieces
1/2 carrot, diced in small pieces
1/4 cup onions, diced finely
4 sticks of imitation crab, shredded

1. Cook pasta as instructed on the package. Rinse cooked pasta under cold water and allow pasta to cool and excess water to drain.
2. Mix the mayonnaise, onion, rice vinegar, salt, and pepper in a large bowl.
3. Add the cooked pasta to the sauce and coat evenly.
4. Fold in the chopped celery, carrot, and imitation crab.
5. Refrigerate and serve cold.

If desired, you can also add some chopped boiled egg! I didn't add egg because I forgot. ): Enjoy!